General Orders
Starfleet maintains an extensive set of policies and procedures designed to guide the conduct of its missions and personnel. These guidelines are especially useful in situations where flag officers cannot be consulted to resolve a situation. *'General Order 1, Prime Directive:' "No starship may interfere with the normal development of any alien life or society" *'General Order 2, Protect Federation Citizens:' One of Starfleet’s two mandates is the defense of the Federation. This order allows Starfleet officers to violate orders or duty requirements in order to assist Federation citizens in need. **'Article 1:' The request for emergency assistance from Federation citizenry demands unconditional priority from Starfleet personnel. Such personnel shall immediately respond to said request, postponing all other activities. *'General Order 3:' Destruct Sequence; starships are unbelievably potent and sophisticated devices, in the event of starships falling into the wrong hands a captain is permitted to use the ship’s self destruct systems when capture of the vessel appears imminent or the ship constitutes a danger to Federation security. **'Article 1:' If the captain is dead or unable to evaluate the situation, the acting captain is authorized to do so. *'General Order 4:' If contact is made with hitherto undiscovered intelligent life forms, under no circumstances shall Starfleet personnel, either by word or by deed, inform said life forms that world other than their own or intelligent life forms other than their own exists outside the confines of their own space. *'General Order 5:' The sovereignty of each Federation member being respected in all things, Starfleet personnel shall observe and and all statutes, laws, ordinances, and rules of governance currently in effect within the jurisdiction of a member planet. Violators of such ordinances will be subject to such punishments or corrections as shall be determined by such local government bodies. *'General Order 6:' If all life aboard a Federation Starship has perished, the ship will self-destruct within twenty-four hours to protect other ships from potential hazards within. *'General Order 7:' Forbids contact with planet Talos IV. As of 2267, it was the only death penalty left on the books. *'General Order 8:' Upon sighting a warship within Federation space and identifying it as belonging to a foreign power, the commander of the Starfleet vessel shall determine the reason(s) for that craft's presence in the vicinity. If there is conclusive evidence that the vessel has hostile intentions, the Federation vessel may take appropriate action to safeguard the lives and property of Federation members. In such cases, the commander may use his discretion in deciding whether to use force to disable the hostile vessel. However, care should be taken to avoid unnecessary loss of sentient life. *'General Order 9:' No commander of a Starfleet vessel, military or auxiliary, may grant political asylum to any individual without first being given express permission to do so by a representative of the Federation government. *'General Order 10:' If there exists eyewitness testimony by senior officers or similar verifiable evidence that an individual has violated the Prime Directive, said individual may be relieved of duty by a duly sworn representative of the Federation government and placed under immediate arrest. The governmental representative shall then take such action as he deems necessary to minimize the results of the violation. *'General Order 11:' Starfleet officers with the rank of captain or higher are granted full authority to negotiate conditions of agreement and/or treaties with legal representatives of non-Federation planets. In such circumstances, the acting officer carries de facto powers of a Federation Special Ambassador. Any and all agreements arranged in this manner are subject to approval by the Chief of Starfleet Operations and the Secretary of Starfleet. *'General Order 12:' On the approach of any vessel, when communications have not been established defense measures must be taken. *'General Order 13:' First Officer may authorize abandoning ship in the absence of commanding officer. *'General Order 14:' Starfleet personnel may intervene in local planetary affairs to restore Order and to secure the lives and property of Federation citizens only upon receiving a direct order to do so from a civilian official with the title of governor or higher. **'Article 1:' Except when orders state to the contrary, Starfleet personnel will respect the territorial integrity of independent planetary systems and governments, and will not violate territorial space belonging to such worlds. *'General Order 15:' No officer of flag rank shall travel into a potentially hazardous area without suitable armed escort. *'General Order 16:' Starfleet personnel may extend technological, medical, or other scientific assistance to a member of a previously unrecognized sentient species only if such assistance in no way compromises the Prime Directive or the security of the Federation or Starfleet. *'General Order 17:' Starfleet vessel captains are to consider the lives of their crew members as sacred. in any potential hostile situation, the captain will place the lives of his/her crew above the fate of his/her ship. *'General Order 18:' Upon being accused of treason against the Federation, Starfleet personnel may demand a trial conducted by the Federation judiciary. If the individual is acquitted, Starfleet Command shall have no further legal recourse against the accused in said matter *'General Order 19:' Except in times of declared emergency, Starfleet personnel may under no circumstances convey personnel or material between planets or planetary systems when there is reason to believe that said personnel or material may be used to conduct aggression. This order applies to independent worlds within the Federation as well as to Federation members. *'General Order 20:' Officers and personnel of Starfleet Command may employ whatever means necessary to prevent the possession, transportation, sale, or commercial exchange of sentient beings held against their wishes within the boundaries of Federation space. *'General Order 21:' No Starfleet personnel, either officer or enlisted, may offer his services to an independent foreign government without the express authorization of the Federation Assembly. *'General Order 22:' As the rights of individual expression and free discourse are considered sacred, Starfleet personnel may debate the policies and decisions of their governmental representatives privately at any time, to the extent that such discussions do not violate their command oath or specific duties to the Federation per these Orders or Starfleet regulations. *'General Order 23:' When verifiable proof is presented to the senior commanding officer of a Starfleet vessel or post that a Federation representative may currently be acting or have acted in the past to violate the Prime Directive, the officer may relieve said representative of office, then assume the full powers of that office pending a full investigation by governmental officials. The destruction of an intelligent life form is only allowed if this is nessesary to prevent a violation of the Prime directive. *'General Order 24:' Planetary Bombardment must be cleared by Starfleet Command; Only then federation starships are authorized to bombard plant surface until no life remains. *'General Order 25:' If a commanding officer deems that an individual or group of individuals pose a threat to Starfleet personnel or Federation civilians, he may take any action deemed necessary (including force) to secure the safety of those threatened. *'General Order 26:' Civilian and military personnel taken into custody by Starfleet personnel during times of extreme emergency shall be accorded proper treatment consistent with their rank or station, insofar as such treatment does not compromise the security of the Federation or Starfleet. *'General Order 27:' No member of a ship's complement or other ground-based installation can be held directly accountable for the actions of their superiors. Similarly, no member of a ship's company or other Starfleet personnel will share disciplinary measures taken against their commanding officer(s) if said individual were not directly involved in the actions leading to disciplinary measures. This order extends to conditions involving proven violations of the Prime Directive where proof of such violations exist. *'General Order 28:' No member of Starfleet shall be required by assignment of standard duties and responsibilities to undergo extended separation from his/her family if family members can be reasonably provided for aboard ship or as part of an existing Starfleet installation *'General Order 29:' No officer of command rank shall be removed from command status unless such action has the complete and unqualified agreement of at least three senior officers present. Whenever possible, such officers shall include the ship's executive officer, chief medical officer, ship's counselor, and one junior officer of command station. *'General Order 30:' Starfleet Command recognizes the right of each ship commander to interpret the specifications of the Prime Directive as he/she sees fit, consistent with the conditions of the other existing general orders in effect, and based upon circumstances that may arise in dealing with newly discovered sentient races. *'General Order 31:' This order allows commanding officers to countermand Starfleet regulations in the event of extreme threat to Federation security (though not General Orders). *'General Order 32:' Federation officers may violate Neutral Zone areas as designated by treaty only if such action is required to save the lives of Federation citizens under conditions of extreme emergency. *'General Order 33:' Mission Priorities: categories all mission types by priority, enabling commanding officers to determine which mission requirements supercede other mission requirements. A commander to break off a routine mission (type D) to undertake an urgent mission (type B). The four mission types are: **'Category A, Vital Missions:' Also known as Priority One command, a Category A mission supercedes all other mission types and overrides all orders and regulations under General Order Four. The fate of the Federation relies on this mission, and all Starfleet lives are considered expendable for its completion. **'Category B, Urgent Missions:' Urgent missions usually involve rescuing or protecting the lives of thousands, if not millions, of Federation citizens. A ship carrying the cure for a plague threatening to wipe out large populations undertakes an urgent mission. Typically, only vital missions supercede these. **'Category C, Strategic Missions:' These missions usually involve securing or defending resources or Starfleet outposts. Missions of high threat factor during peacetime, such as patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone, are Category C missions because of the high probability of danger, as are escort duties. **'Category D, Routine Missions:' Encompassing the majority of Starfleet missions, a starship crew may undertake dozens of routine assignments at the same time: categorizing gaseous anomalies, measuring pulsar fluctuations, researching the life cycle of the Gamelan root beast, conducting soil analyses, and putting in an appearance at Caldos Colony, for example. Routine missions include most patrols, exploration, and research duties. *'General Order 34, War Time Operations:' During a time of war, Starfleet personnel are to take appropriate measures to defend Federation member worlds and assets, and are authorized to use necessary force against any hostile military forces. Category:Regulations